U.S. Teacher Fatally Stabbed in Abu Dhabi Shopping Mall

[bigworld]

Source: NBC News

An American teacher who is the mother of twins was stabbed to death in the bathroom of an Abu Dhabi shopping mall, police said Wednesday. The 37-year-old woman reportedly was attacked "with a sharp tool" following a fight in the public restroom on Monday, with witnesses saying the suspect was cloaked in a traditional black robe, gloves and face cover, police said. The attack comes just weeks after the U.S. embassy in Abu Dhabi warned citizens of an anonymous posting on a jihadist website encouraging attacks against teachers at American schools in the Middle East.

Read more: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/284583161.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_DCBrand

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Is it me or is that veiled woman quite masculine?

[msanthrope]

1. Looks like a dude in the video. nt

[Proud Public Servant]

9. Men dressing in burkhas to carry out attacks

was very common in Afghanistan when I was there, and I'm sure still is. This seems like the same tactic.

[uppityperson]

17. What makes you say that? I saw nothing gender specific, wondering what you saw? Thanks. nt

[bigworld]

24. Just the way (s)he walks -- it doesn't seem like (s)he's ever worn a burqa before

And wearing gloves? That's not a common thing in the UAE at all.

The suspect certainly seems to be on a mission when (s)he enters the building.

[msanthrope]

28. The way they walked. nt

[zazen]

2. wouldn't a male dressing as woman in female restroom violate strictest sharia law?

I wouldn't think even those woman-hating fundamentalist thugs would risk polluting themselves by dressing as a woman, even if it's to murder someone as evil and globally dangerous as a 37-year-old teacher and mother of two.

[Johnyawl]

3. killing innocents is supposedly a violation of Islamic law also...

...so once you've made the decision to kill an innocent, why would you be concerned about how you were dressed or where you attacked her?

Religious fanatics can always find a scriptural justification for their hatred and evil.

[zazen]

7. but their insecurity about their faux masculinity usually dictates the type of murderous behavior

So killing an innocent is nothing to them, but soiling themselves by dressing as a woman and going into a room where, God Forbid, a woman might be menstruating, seems like too big a price for them to pay. I'd expect them to blow themselves up or something rather than dress in drag. They might lose the 72 virgins or something.

They could find a scriptural justification--I'd just think their culture of obsessive female-hating would mitigate this choice of strategy. It hits too close to home, psychologically speaking.

[CJCRANE]

11. The people who do this kind of thing

are either psychopaths and/or traumatized individuals. Logic and religion has little to do with it.

I stumbled across an extremist group on Facebook and followed it for several months and never saw any mention of 72 virgins. The foot soldiers are mostly ignorant young men who know little about history, religion or culture. They are just aggressive idiots.

[Proud Public Servant]

10. Meant to reply to you

See my response to post #1, above.

[Divernan]

4. Since when are gloves traditional? But necessary to cover hairy male hands!

More from OP link:

"The injured woman was immediately rushed to Sheikh Khalifa Medical City where she succumbed to the wounds she sustained in the attack," Abu Dhabi police said in a statement, adding that the suspect had immediately fled the scene after the attack. Police said an investigation is underway into the cause of the fight and the suspect's motive, identity and gender.

Col. Dr. Rashid Mohammad Borshid, head of Abu Dhabi's Criminal Investigation Department said that police are now caring for the victim's twins.

In a surveillance video released by Abu Dhabi police, the suspect is shown exiting an elevator and appearing to have a quick interaction with a mall security officer — before grabbing a newspaper and heading into the bathroom.

According to the timestamp on the video, the suspect hustles out of the bathroom around 90 minutes later and heads straight for the elevator as bystanders scatter. At the elevator door, a female bystander apparently tries to stop the suspect but quickly retreats. The suspect then dashes into the elevator — and other bystanders soon rush after.

Police said they have not determined the gender of the assailant.

Cassandra Vinograd is a Senior Writer and News Editor. Before joining NBC News, she worked as a London-based... Expand Bio

[CJCRANE]

5. Stochastic terrorism.

The oil-rich financiers of extremism let this evil genie out of the bottle, now it may make their own countries no go zones for westerners.

[cosmicone]

6. This is why burkhas and face veils should be banned.

Let them have them in countries that refuse to come to the 21st century but the West and Asia should not allow them to be worn in public.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

8. My county has a large Muslim population

so seeing a woman wearing a hijab is nothing. You don't even notice it.

However, seeing a woman in a burka or niqab always freaks me out. Especially when it is 103 degrees outside and as humid as a sauna! arrggghhhh

[cosmicone]

12. Any garment that women are forced to wear is bad. n/t

[TheSarcastinator]

13. your post is unintentionally ironic

So your solution to women being "forced" to wear these garments (do you have no idea that many Muslim women CHOOSE to wear this style of clothing?) is to force them NOT to wear them? Good luck with the cognitive dissonance. Freedom!

On edit: Do we need to ban the wearing of balaclavas, sunglasses, and Halloween masks as well or is it just concealing religious clothing you would like to make illegal?

[alp227]

14. Concealing one's entire face shouldn't be legal. That includes ski masks.

Ski masks should be for skiing not going out.

[cosmicone]

15. You are missing the public v private domains

For example, it is ok to drive drunk on your own ranch or estate and if you hit a tree, that is your problem.

However, it is not ok to drive drunk on public roads because you reduce other people's security.

And yes, that would apply to ski-masks and Halloween masks (used by adults) as well - not just burkhas. However, small children wearing Halloween masks are extremely unlikely to be a security threat.

[Comrade Grumpy]

16. But what about masked midgets posing as children? We can never be too careful.

[cosmicone]

20. "Midget" is a derogatory term

You should have said "little people."

[snooper2]

23. I just want to make the religious clothing illegal, or if you are going to wear a sheet

You need to have your own picture at least 2'x2' on the front and back-

We will have random sheet checkers confirm that your face matches your sheet picture.

[uppityperson]

18. I saw nothing indicating gender, wondering what you and others saw to think that. Thanks.

and yes, honest question. thanks.

[Blue_Tires]

21. I can't quite place it, but the way that killer moves is just fuckin' weird...

it just seems out-of-place...Even if the killer is a woman, I'd speculate it was a non-Muslim woman -- There's just too much purpose and intent with the movement as opposed to someone who knows how to 'play the role'

And of course it's not like this hasn't been done before:

[Divernan]

22. The local police are investigating gender of the killer.

"Police said an investigation is underway into the cause of the fight and the suspect's motive, identity and gender." (from the OP link). I know a number of women as large as the individual in the video. None of them are able to move that fast and smoothly. The swathed figure seemed very powerful.

On researching this, I found that women wearing burqas do wear gloves, but I think the gloves in this instance also served to disguise masculine hands.

[uppityperson]

25. It would not surprise me a man did the attack, but large women?

I know several quite large female dancers, able to move fast and smoothly.

I was hoping something like a beard showed.

[Xithras]

26. Gait can actually indicate gender.

Most of us don't pay any attention to it because we grow up seeing it, but there are actually recognizable differences in the walking gait of men and women. It has to do with a slight difference in hip angle, the relative width of the hips in relation to the torso changing the femur angle slightly (women have slightly wider hips to accommodate childbirth), and the presence or lack of testicles.

When normalized for physical size and bone length, the result is that men generally take long strides with wider step patterns, while the hips remain relatively still. Women tend to take shorter strides with a much narrower step pattern, and with more hip oscillation. This allows many people to subconsciously recognize gender even without seeing the body...or even from footprints alone. The differences are distinct enough that there are computer programs that can almost instantly determine gender based off of movement alone. It's not foolproof, but the difference is real.

That said, it's not a skill I personally possess. I can't tell the gender of the person in the video. There are certainly people who can, though.

[Blue_Tires]

19. The powers that be in the UAE ain't gonna like this

and will probably nip it in the bud posthaste...

The UAE has taken EXTREME measures and spent years building up their image as being a safe, modern, tech-savvy, semi-enlightened environment for big-money tourists, investors, corporate partnerships, etc. from Western/Asian nations...

[Eugene]

27. Woman arrested on suspicion of killing U.S. teacher: UAE police

Source: Reuters

Woman arrested on suspicion of killing U.S. teacher: UAE police

ABU DHABI Thu Dec 4, 2014 7:50am EST

(Reuters) - United Arab Emirates (UAE) police have arrested a woman suspected of killing of an American teacher found stabbed to death in a ladies' toilet at an Abu Dhabi shopping mall, police said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Matt Smith and Noah Browning, Writing by William Maclean)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/04/us-emirates-usa-murder-idUSKCN0JI19N20141204

[bigworld]

31. video from NBC

That is a pretty substantial house.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/woman-held-abu-dhabi-killing-american-teacher-ibolya-ryan-n261356

[Sunlei]

29. & planted a bomb a couple hours later.

She didn't act alone.

[Blue_Tires]

30. I'm guessing there is going to be a harsh, heavyhanded crackdown on this sort of thing

The UAE isn't about to let a bunch of extremists fuck around with commerce...

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. Abu Dhabi Suspect in Ibolya Ryan Killing Didn't Act Alone: Police

The suspect accused of stabbing an American teacher to death at an Abu Dhabi shopping mall was not working alone, Abu Dhabi police told ABC News.

The suspect was identified as Dalal al Hashemi, a 38 year-old UAE citizen of Yemeni origin, police said. She was arrested today in connection with the teacher's murder and is also accused of planting a bomb in front of an Egyptian-American doctor's home.

Police said they do not believe Hashemi, 38, was a so-called "lone wolf". Authorities told ABC News that other people were arrested at Hashemi's house, but their connection to the attack was not yet known.

Her home was described as a "base of operations," but it was not clear what groups – if any - she may have been connected to.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/abu-dhabi-arrests-suspect-stabbing-american-teacher/story?id=27359238